Tangible Symbols
by
E l i z a b e t h To r r e y What are tangible symbols?
•Theyaretactile,representations
ofactivities,objects,places,events,
conceptsorpeople,whichareused
forexpressiveand receptive communication.
•Theyarepermanentinthatthey
remainthesameovereach
presentation.
•Theycanbeheldinthehandorphysicallytransferredfromplacetoplace.
•Theyareusuallymadeofwholeobjectsorpartsofobjectsattachedtoa
backgroundcard.
•Theycanrangeintheirlevelofabstraction.
Who would benefit from using tangible symbols?
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•Studentswithemerginglanguageskillswhoareblindorvisuallyimpaired, withorwithoutotherdisabilities,whoareunabletouseprint,picturessymbols
orBrailletosupporttheirexpressivecommunication.
•Studentswhorequireamulti-sensoryapproachtolanguagelearning.
Why do people use tangible symbols?
•Toincreaseindependent
communicationskills.
•Tocreateafocalpointfor
conversations.
•Toaccessthecurriculum.
•Tosupporttransitionfrompre-
symbolictosymboliccommunication.
•Toprovideabridgeforusingmoreabstractsymbols,suchasspeech,when
possible.
•Tocreateactivityschedules.
•Tosupporttransitionsbetweenactivities.
•Todeveloptimeconceptsandsequencingskills.
•Todevelopearlyliteracyandpre-brailleskills.
What are some of the language skills and concepts that can be accessed with
tangible symbols?
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•Greetingfriends.
•Establishingjointattention.
•Takingturnsandwaitingforaturn.
•Requesting(toys,foods,songs,activities)
•Rejecting
•Labeling(objects,people,food,places,etc.)
•Identifyinglandmarks
•Indicatingneedstates(hungry,thirsty,etc.)
•Statingfeelings(happy,sad,bored,etc.)
•Understandingthedailyroutine.
•Learninghowtoexpressoneselfandbe
heardbyothers
•Learningbehaviorregulation.
How should tangible symbols be presented?
•Consistently
•Withinroutines
•Withconsistentlanguage
•Aspartofawholecommunicationsystem
•Bypairingsymbolswithwhattheyarerepresenting(person,place,activity)
•WithprintandBraillelabelsattached.
What should be considered when developing tangible symbols for a student?
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•Thestudent’sinterests.
•Thestudent’sexperiencewiththeactivities,etc.,thatthesymbolsare
representing.
•Thestudent’ssensoryneedsorlimitationsandtactilepreferences.
•Thestudent’sexpressiveandreceptivelanguagelevel.
•Thestudent’svisualimpairment(fieldcut,colorpreference,etc.)
•Thestudent’sfineandgrossmotorskills
•Thestudent’sresponsemode
(touching,pointing,eyegaze)
Further considerations:
•Levelofabstractionof symbolbeingcreated. Howcloselydoesthesymbol
beararesemblancetowhatit
represents?
•Tactilesaliencyofthesymbol.Howeasyisittoidentifythe
symbolusingonlytouch?
•Easeofreplication.Arethematerialsusedinmakingthesymbolreadily
availableandinexpensiveoraretheyone-of-a-kindanddifficulttofind?
•Durability.Willthesymbolsurvivefrequenthandling?
Tips for Introducing Tangible Symbols
Whenbeginningtheprocessofintroducingtangiblesymbolstoastudentforthe
firsttime,itishelpfultostartbyfindingoutwhatthestudentreallylikes,suchas
favoritesongs,interactivegamesorpreferredtoys.Astudentismorelikelytolearn
toidentifyasymbolrepresentingafavoritegamethanonethatrepresentsanonpreferredactivity.
Onceapreferencehasbeendetermined,pairaspecificobjectwiththatgameor
song.Forexample,ifthestudentlikesthesong“ShakeYourSilliesOut”encourage
himtoholdandshakeasmallshakerwhilelisteningtothesong.Makesurethe
objectisavailableeachtimethestudenthearsthesong.Oncetherelationshiphas
beenestablished,placetheobjectonachoiceboardandpresentittothestudent
beforehehearsthesong.Havehimplacetheobjectina“finishedbox”whenthe
songhasended.
Afterthestudenthasdevelopedanunderstandingoftherelationshipbetween
theobjectandthesong,makeatangiblesymbolthatrepresentsthesong.Inthis
examplewiththesong“ShakeYourSilliesOut”atangiblesymbolcouldbecreated
byattachingasmallshakertoacard.Givethestudenttimetoexplorethetangible
symbolwiththeunattachedobjectbeforeplayingthesong.Afterthisassociationhas
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beenestablished,presentthetangiblesymbolonthechoiceboardbeforeplayingthe
song.
Animportantstepincreatinganassociationbetweenatangiblesymbolandasong
oractivityistoengagethestudentinthatactivityassoonashetouchesorlooksat
thesymbol.Bydoingthisthestudentwilllearnthattouchingaspecificsymbolmeans
gainingaccesstoafavoriteactivity.Whenmoresymbolsareintroducedthestudent
willlearnthatsymbolsrepresentavarietyofactivities,etc.Hewilleventuallylearn
thattouchingsymbolsisaneffectivewaytocommunicatechoicesandmakerequests.
For more resources, visit www.Perkins.org.
Ouron-demandwebcastsarepresentedbyexpertsinthefieldofvisual
impairmentanddeafblindness.Viewourdirectoryat:
www.Perkins.org/webcasts.
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